THE GOVERNMENT seriously considers purging corrupt officials from the National Food Authority (NFA) apart from amending the Rice Tariffication Law to bring down the high retail prices of rice, a congressman said Thursday.
“We should have an NFA leadership that is honest and competent so that it won’t be marred in anomalies,” Party-list Rep. Wilbert T. Lee said in a statement in Filipino, citing how some NFA officials favor certain rice traders, thus, pushing the retail prices even higher.
“NFA’s mandate is to help farmers and consumers, not to be business partners of (rice) traders.”
The House is currently expediting its deliberation on the amendments to the Rice Tariffication Law as part of measures to lower the retail prices of the staple in the market.
House Speaker and Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez last week said that amending the Rice Tariffication to allow the NFA to buy rice directly from producers would reduce rice prices by as much as P10 to P15 per kilo. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio
